Augmentation

[rthom]

tramadol is mot supposed to have "addictive " qualities either, so it's something my dr and i are thinking of trying next. I am also taking hydromorph.

[Polar Bear]

I prefer not to use the term 'addictive'. I'd rather say 'dependant', such as a diabetic person would
be dependant on insulin.

[ViewsAskew]

Beth, you might consider taking 100 mg (lowest dose) Tramadol Retard for daytime symptoms. It works 24 hrs and it might even help you in taking less hydrom.
It's what I do. Tramadol is not that strong.

Corrie

I haven't used the longer-acting formula, but the regular tramadol was excellent at managing my daytime and early evening symptoms.

[rthom]

Got it, will try to remember that.

[ViewsAskew]

tramadol is mot supposed to have "addictive " qualities either, so it's something my dr and i are thinking of trying next. I am also taking hydromorph.

FYI - seems that tramadol can be addictive...but only about 7% of the population have issues with addiction.

Tramadol EASILY causes dependence. NEVER stop it suddenly or you could end up in the ER as I did

[rthom]

Wow, sorry to hear that i was just going by what my dr told me. Hungh, now i'm just confused--my pain clinician (--emergency room doctor that has a clinic) said the same thing about it a few times before. I wonder --does anyone know if it's listed in the doctors pharmaceutical books this way?? Maybe they are going by what they read?
Anyway good to know that, thanks for letting me know.

[ViewsAskew]

Here's what I've read - not sure if it's true, but it makes sense.\

Doctors get the vast majority of their information in medical school When new things come out, it makes it in journals, and doctors can't read ALL of the journals, and eventually into the textbooks, but that takes a few years. It supposedly takes about 15 years before new information becomes commonly accepted knowledge.

When we read things that are in the journals, it's almost a sure bet that our doctors don't know them.

The tramadol research is relatively new - but at least a couple years old. The originally thought it wouldn't be a problem for people. But, then here were all these people addicted because no one was careful with it.

But, as noted, only a small percentage of us have addiction problems. It's always possible, but if you've not had issues with other drugs, it's not that likely that all the sudden you'd develop an addiction for others in the same category.

Dependence is what many people call addiction - it's our bodies becoming used to it and when we take it away, we have issues. That happens commonly and has nothing to do with being addicted.

[badnights]

I thank you Corrie and Ann for the info on Tramadol for daytime symptoms. My GP is trying to get me a phone appt with the sleep dude in Edmonton, so at least now I have something to suggest to him.

[jittery girl]

Doctors have become more cautious about prescribing Tramadol. There is research about depression and Tramadol is pretty easy to overdose. So if you have had suicide attempts or even thoughts of suicide, the doctor won't want you to have large amounts of the drug in your possession. You most likely will need to pick up a 30 day supply at the pharmacy each month. I tried the extended release and it did not work. However, the regular stuff works great. I take it every evening before symptoms.

[ViewsAskew]

Doctors have become more cautious about prescribing Tramadol. There is research about depression and Tramadol is pretty easy to overdose. So if you have had suicide attempts or even thoughts of suicide, the doctor won't want you to have large amounts of the drug in your possession. You most likely will need to pick up a 30 day supply at the pharmacy each month. I tried the extended release and it did not work. However, the regular stuff works great. I take it every evening before symptoms.

Interesting...Tramadol, for me, is an instant mood elevator. I always feel better when taking it. Not dramatically, just a slight elevation in mood.

One thing I noticed is that it's VERY easy to get physically dependent on it. I stopped it after taking it for 3-5 weeks (wasn't keeping track, but I only had one script filled) and was in the hospital for dehydration because of the constant vomiting. I couldn't keep anything down. The next time I took it and stopped it, I just reduced it slowly and had no issues. Just don't stop it quickly - not all people get dependent, but no way to know if you are one who will.

[jy13131]

Yes I was going to say they tramadol is an excellent med for WED symptoms and can easily be used during the day. I also wanted to point out that during my requip "helliday" I found hydrocodone to be a bit like putting a bandaid on a slit throat. My dr said either OxyContin or methadone. After doing some research and considering my addiction issues I went with methadone. It works very effectively and the effects carry over to the following day. I was put on zofran for nausea but I seem to be adjusting to that as well. I am approximately one month in to my requip withdrawal and symptoms are significantly reduced. I am next going to start researching whether I want to go back on a DA at all now that it is out of my system.

[badnights]

I was going to mention that earlier in this thread for rlsidaho, that the hydrocodone might not be strong enough to ropinirole withdrawal, depending what his particular withdrawal is like.

You are on an extended-release DA and I have always thought that the chance of augmentation is very low on them. Dr B says about 10%.

I Think there is very little literature on this so far, so the 10% is a guesstimate and not as reliable a number as "75% of people who take DAs eventually experience adverse side effects including augmentation, and 25% of them have to stop taking the drug" - because the short-acting drugs have been around long enough to have had studies done on them, but not the long-acting ones.

Also, isn't the idea that long-acting ones would prevent augmentation based on the user would be covered around-the-clock -? I think that was my understanding. So a single evening dose does not fulfil that requirement, an additional morning dose would be needed as well.

[rlsidaho]

The hydrocodone that I used during the period following my stoppage of the Requip handled about 75% of my RLS symptoms. I would've loved to have had something a bit stronger but that was the only thing my doc at the time was willing to give me. It is extremely frustrating to have so few doctors understand the true misery associated with RLS-WED symptoms. Finding Dr B and having him treat me was like going from living my life seeing only in black and white, to suddenly seeing in color. There are so many others like me who are just as frustrated as I was, and I hope they can find relief. People shouldn't have to suffer as I did solely because doctors are too scared to write scripts for meds that work but are controversial due to recreational users screwing it up for the rest of us.

[badnights]

Amen.

Awareness within the medical community seems to be the best way to address that problem

[rthom]

nicely put risidaho